Black sex link surprise??

[PowierskiChics]

Hello! Recently my black sex link hen hatched 3 chicks.. they're all black, but 2 have white dots on their heads (I'm assuming those 2 are roosters, correct me if I'm wrong). However, there was 1 egg struggling to hatch and the hen stopped sitting on it so I hatched it myself and surprisingly this chick is more so light brown with dark brown down its back.... is that still a sex link?? The only rooster we have is also black sex link.. Posting a picture for you to see.

 

[RadEggs]

Do you think it could be a different hens chick?

 

[PowierskiChics]

Do you think it could be a different hens chick?

The only hens in that run are sex link. They all look identical lol... and the rooster us sex linked as well

 

[RadEggs]

What???? If you don't have any brown hens I think maybe you got a genetic mutation or something!!! That's crazy!

 

[rural mouse]

Sex-links (of any color) are hybrids of 2 specific breeds. The hen is barred and the rooster is not (other combinations can hatch out down sexable babies at hatch too) for the black sex link. Usually the hen is a barred rock. I don't remember off the top of my head what the roo is for that combo, but he IS NOT a barred rock. The barring will only show up on the males of that link, leaving all the pullets without the headspot. The next generation is NOT sexable from headspots. Both genders can have spots. Both can NOT have spots. All with the head dot will be barred.

Auto-sexing breeds will hatch out like sex-links, but have been developed over multiple generations so the down sexing will breed true. The cream crested legbar is an example of this as is the Bielefelder.


Edit, also, barring tends to cover other things as does black, so the oddball may have managed to pop something hidden under the black of the sex linkage.

 

[Australorpfamily]

Could someone have moved an egg from another location? You said this run, so I'm assuming you have more than one?

 

[JedJackson]

No, they're not sex links. Only a solid colored rooster over a barred hen will give you black sex links. BSL hens don't have the gene for barring. The reason some of the chicks have head spots and others don't is because a BSL rooster has only one copy of the barring gene, unlike a pure barred rooster which has two. So about half of his chicks will pick up the barring gene, and half won't, but it has nothing to do with gender in this case. You will get barred and non-barred males and females from that cross.

I couldn't say why the one chick came out with the chipmunk pattern when both parents are BSLs. Either hidden color genetics are expressing themselves or the parentage is different.

 

[PowierskiChics]

Could someone have moved an egg from another location? You said this run, so I'm assuming you have more than one?

No, the other run the chickens are only 10 weeks old and not laying yet

 

[PowierskiChics]

Sex-links (of any color) are hybrids of 2 specific breeds. The hen is barred and the rooster is not (other combinations can hatch out down sexable babies at hatch too) for the black sex link. Usually the hen is a barred rock. I don't remember off the top of my head what the roo is for that combo, but he IS NOT a barred rock. The barring will only show up on the males of that link, leaving all the pullets without the headspot. The next generation is NOT sexable from headspots. Both genders can have spots. Both can NOT have spots. All with the head dot will be barred.

Auto-sexing breeds will hatch out like sex-links, but have been developed over multiple generations so the down sexing will breed true. The cream crested legbar is an example of this as is the Bielefelder.


Edit, also, barring tends to cover other things as does black, so the oddball may have managed to pop something hidden under the black of the sex linkage.

Ahh okay, you definitely just taught me something! Thank you! Is it often that one would hatch completely different?? Could this difference also be why she was struggling to hatch out herself?

 

[PowierskiChics]

No, they're not sex links. Only a solid colored rooster over a barred hen will give you black sex links. BSL hens don't have the gene for barring. The reason some of the chicks have head spots and others don't is because a BSL rooster has only one copy of the barring gene, unlike a pure barred rooster which has two. So about half of his chicks will pick up the barring gene, and half won't, but it has nothing to do with gender in this case. You will get barred and non-barred males and females from that cross.

I couldn't say why the one chick came out with the chipmunk pattern when both parents are BSLs. Either hidden color genetics are expressing themselves or the parentage is different.

Good to know! I was hoping to not get any roosters. I guess we'll see...

I'm still very baffled about that little one lol